Eagles

Nick Sirianni Gets an A+ For Sniffing Out This Drew Kendall Question

By Matt Schultz

Published: Sep 16th, 2026 · 3:42 PM EDT

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With Landon Dickerson hitting the IR after a rough Week 1 — a performance he’s since pretty much blamed on getting injured at practice a few weeks ago — the Eagles will have some offensive line adjustments to make in Week 2. The question now is what exactly those adjustments will be.

The two logical options seem to be as follows:

1. The normal fill-in option: Second-year offensive lineman Drew Kendall steps directly into Landon Dickerson’s left guard spot. This keeps Cam Jurgens at center and the rest of the line intact. It’s the simplest move and the one a bunch of people expect, especially since Kendall took a lot of backup guard reps in camp and the preseason.
2. The reconfiguring-the-line-a-little option: Jurgens slides over to left guard (he started at right guard in 2023 next to Jason Kelce, so he has experience there), and Kendall moves to center (his natural college position, and the spot he was primarily drafted to back up).

Naturally, the coaching staff is staying vague for competitive reasons and hasn’t outright announced who’s starting where on Sunday against the Titans. But that isn’t stopping the media from trying to figure it out. On Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked Nick Sirianni what I believe was a kind-of trick question: whether he thinks Drew Kendall would be a better fit at guard or center.

And for the record, I appreciate this approach. This was a noble attempt at getting an answer from Nick. This was a solid, well-worded, innocent-seeming question. Without point-blank asking, “Where will Drew Kendall play?” the reporter used finesse. Slyness. Subtleness. Subterfuge… all in hopes of cracking the mind of the head coach and having him spill the answer without even realizing he did it…

But Nick sniffed it out. It was a good sniff-out:

Eagles head coach Nick Siranni was asked if second year offensive lineman Drew Kendall is a better fit at guard or center.@SportsRadioWIP @KYWNewsradio https://t.co/GCITD5g4Bx pic.twitter.com/1taptnj5iw

— Dave Uram (@MrUram) September 16, 2026

“That’s a tricky way you’re asking that question (kind of laughs). I think he’s able to do both. Yeah, and I think he does well at both. And that’s why you cross-train these guys. Same with Willie (Lampkin). I think he does, you know, he can do both. Um, you know, same with Fred (Johnson), I think he can play inside and outside. Um, and so, you know, we’ll see how that goes. But uh, you know, he’s got reps and experience at both, and we’re excited for whoever that may be who fills in, has that opportunity.”

Well done by Nick here. Credit where it’s due. He recognized instantly that this question was a trap, and he masterfully maneuvered his way out of it. You knew he was about to hit us with a complete non-answer when he hit this pose — the slight smile/head tilt/point:

This is the universal expression for “You almost had me there, you sly dog.” Respect, Nick. And respect to the reporter who asked, too. This was a good game of chess here. Nick won this one.